Russian airstrike on Kyiv overnight, 10 killed and dozens injured

At least 10 people were killed, dozens of others were injured, and extensive material damage, as well as fires, were recorded in the early morning hours after Ukraine’s capital was hit by a wave of Russian missiles and drones. The attack came after President Volodymyr Zelensky had warned that a “large-scale” strike was being prepared.

A day earlier, Zelensky said from Dublin, where he was on a visit, that he would return urgently to Kyiv after receiving information about preparations for a new Russian attack.

“We know that Putin has been preparing this massive strike against Ukraine for some time,” he said during a press conference in the Irish capital, calling on Ukrainians to “double” their vigilance and “protect themselves.”

The military commander of the Kyiv region, Mykola Kalashnik, announced on Telegram that “During the night, the enemy launched a new massive attack on the Kyiv region using attack drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles,” adding that five sectors in the region had been hit.

AFP journalists said they had heard a series of successive explosions for several hours.

In the center of the capital, an explosion sent smoke rising as buildings were being engulfed in flames, a reporter at the scene said. Firefighters and ambulances arrived immediately, while about fifteen minutes after the first explosion, a second one was heard, scattering debris in all directions.

In the streets, residents were heading toward shelters, and some of them were carrying mattresses with them.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said an explosion had damaged a building in the city center where an ambulance facility is located.

“Five paramedics were injured in the Shevchenkivskyi district, one of them, a member of an ambulance crew, is in critical condition,” he said.

“The roof of a multi-story building is on fire in another district, while people were trapped when a nine-story apartment building collapsed,” Klitschko added.